True Lies
by Rhasa aka Sarah
Summary: A witch hunt in the White House leads Josh to fear the worse. J/D
1. Default Chapter

Title: True Lies  
  
Author: Rhasa  
  
Category: Drama  
  
Rating; PG-13  
  
Disclaimer: Aaron Sorkin is a lucky lucky man. He owns these guys not  
  
me.  
  
Summary: A witch hunt in the White House leads Josh to fear the  
  
worse.  
True Lies 1/1 by Rhasa  
  
"Josh?" Leo called his name.  
  
"I don't know what to say. I can't believe-" Josh stood motionless,  
  
a thousand thoughts running through his head. He hadn't expected  
  
this disturbing news.  
  
"We're resolved to handling this quietly," Leo's soft voice broke  
  
through his thoughts.  
  
"No. I can't believe this bullshit you're telling me."  
  
"Josh," Leo drawled out his name in warning.  
  
"I can't believe any of it. I can't believe you for even suggesting  
  
it," he pointed squarely at Bruno. "Or you, Toby, for even  
  
suspecting it." He had desperately tried to keep his anger in check  
  
for the best part of five minutes since this ridiculous conversation  
  
had begun. But now. now he unleased a fury and turned it's wrath on  
  
what he considered to be the utter idiots standing in this  
  
room. "And you, Leo," he rounded on his boss. "You of all people. I  
  
can't believe you for even discussing it. It's bullshit, Leo. Total  
  
bullshit."  
  
"Do you honestly think I would come to you if I thought there wasn't  
  
any basis for these suspicions?"  
  
"That's all they are Leo, suspicions. It's a god damned witch hunt."  
  
"We've conducted some initial enquiries and there is concern," Toby  
  
said quietly.  
  
"Concern? The only concerns you have are for your own asses. The  
  
fact is that you screwed up and now you're looking for someone else  
  
to blame."  
  
"Josh, this isn't about that," Bruno offered.  
  
"Isn't it? Well it's damn more plausible than accusing Donna of  
  
leaking information, no that wasn't it, selling. selling information  
  
to Blake."  
  
"You haven't been hearing a word I said, have you, Josh?" Bruno  
  
advanced on him, clearly annoyed that his word had not been taken  
  
seriously. "If it walks like a duck, and talks like a duck, then it  
  
probably is a duck, Josh!"  
  
"Why you-" Josh leapt for Bruno's throat. If it wasn't for the  
  
restraining hands of both Leo and Toby, there was no doubt that Josh  
  
would have socked him one.  
  
"That's enough!" Leo barked.  
  
They all took a moment to take a breath and calm down. Josh looked  
  
at the downcast eyes in the room. Toby looked like he was  
  
desperately willing for the floor to swallow him up. He knew the  
  
Director of Communications wanted to be anywhere but here doing  
  
anything else but discussing this. Leo returned to the relative  
  
safety of behind his desk and Bruno paced.  
  
Obviously this had not gone well. Leo had warned him a few minutes  
  
ago that this would be a sensitive discussion. That man had a gift  
  
for understatement.  
  
"Josh, we haven't accused Donna of anything. We have some concerns--"  
  
"Suspicions. Accusations. They're the same thing around here."  
  
"Good god, none of us want it to be true. That's what we're here for  
  
today. To get a handle on this. Resolve things quietly and clear up  
  
this matter once and for all. That's why we brought you in on it. To  
  
see if you could shed some light on things."  
  
"Well that was good of you," Josh replied sarcastically.  
  
"And to give you a heads up."  
  
"What do you mean, Leo?"  
  
"There's going to be an informal, very quiet investigation."  
  
"What?" Josh shouted again.  
  
"We're going to be speaking with Donna, ask her to clarify  
  
everything Bruno has told you this morning."  
  
"You can't be serious? You're going to haul her in here and. and.  
  
interrogate her?"  
  
"Josh," Leo sighed deeply. "This is me you're talking to. It's not  
  
going to be like that."  
  
"Maybe not for you. But it's damned well going to feel like that to  
  
her. And then what are you going to do Leo, after you have accused  
  
her and made fools out of yourselves for suspecting her in the first  
  
place. Are you going to pat her on the head say, "good girl" and  
  
send her back to work? She'll be crushed."  
  
"This is Donna we're talking about. If she's done nothing wrong,  
  
she'll understand. She'll bounce back."  
  
"You're right. This *is* Donna we're talking about. She *has* done  
  
nothing wrong and you don't really know her at all if you think  
  
she'll just *bounce* back from something like this."  
  
"Josh, we have a job to do," Toby said uncomfortably. "Donna has the  
  
right to answer these accusations. She has the right of reply."  
  
"Yeah, but not like this. Not to you," Josh sighed.  
  
"What do you have in mind," Leo asked, picking up on the idea that  
  
Josh had an alternative for him to consider.  
  
"Let me talk to her-" Josh began.  
  
"That's not a good idea," Bruno stated plainly.  
  
"Let me ask her. Let me ask for explanations. If I'm not satisfied  
  
with her answers then you can take it from there."  
  
"You can't expect me to believe that you would be impartial to  
  
anything she has to say?" Bruno, clearly annoyed, asked.  
  
"No more or less than you can, which should even up this little  
  
witch hunt you got going, Bruno."  
  
"No," Bruno simply said.  
  
Josh turned quickly to face his boss "Give me this, Leo, please.  
  
Please let me talk to her. This is Donna for crying out loud."  
  
Leo looked into the younger man's eyes and had to cast his eyes  
  
downwards for what he saw there. It made Leo feel ashamed but also  
  
scared. He wanted to believe in Donna. He truly did. But if it  
  
turned out that she had been selling information he was more  
  
concerned not for the information lost or the damage something like  
  
this would do to re election but for the blow it would serve to  
  
Josh, the betrayal he would feel. She was like Josh's right arm. The  
  
damage to the White House could be fixed, but Leo feared the damage  
  
to Josh would be irreparable.  
  
Leo sighed, god he felt old. "Okay. You can talk to her, Josh. But I  
  
want to know everything she says."  
  
"Okay," Josh sighed in temporary relief.  
End part 1  
  
The nature of the accusations against Donna will be clarified next  
  
chapter.  
  
Rhasa4@yahoo.com 


	2. Chapter 2

Title: True Lies 2/3 Author: Rhasa Rating: Pg-13 Category: Drama Summary: Josh, Donna, suspicions, accusations, trust, betrayal, and a rock and a hard place. Disclaimer: Aaron Sorkin owns these. I hope they bring him as much joy as they bring me.  
True Lies Part 2  
  
by Rhasa  
  
Josh's head was reeling. He didn't believe it. He didn't believe a word of it. Bruno didn't know Donna. If he had have known her he would have known that there was no way in hell she could do what he suspected her of doing. Someone had leaked information there was no doubt about that. And part of that was Bruno's responsibility. He was just looking for someone to blame. A scapegoat. A patsy. A fall guy. The whole investigation was a witch hunt. And it looked like they had Donna pegged for head witch.  
  
The 'evidence' if they wanted to call it that was circumstantial at best.  
  
Someone leaked information to Blake's office.  
  
Donna was one of only six people to have access to that information. All of the others had denied releasing any information whatsoever.  
  
Donna was seen having lunch, and passing an envelope to Amanda Davis, secretary to Blake.  
  
There was a little matter of a ten thousand dollar deposit into Donna's bank account. How Bruno got that particular piece of information, Josh was determined to find out.  
  
Logged telephone calls showed no less than seven calls were made from Blake's office to Donna's line.  
  
Leo had assured Josh that they were just suspicions for now. But there was an investigation and Donna would have to answer for her actions.  
  
But to Josh it was all bullshit. Utter, total bullshit and he was going to treat it that way. He had begged Leo that he be the one to ask Donna about the allegations, but he wasn't about to haul her into his office and interrogate her "Bruno" style. No. He would do it the Josh Lyman way. And everything would be cleared up. Everything would be all right. He'd make casual observations and slip his questions into an everyday conversation. And Donna would answer them. And everything would be all right.  
  
Everything would be all right. He'd keep telling himself that and eventually he would have to believe it.  
  
Everything would be all right because this was Donna and this was bullshit, utter total bullshit.  
"Hey, Donna," Josh sighed as he re entered the bullpen.  
  
"Josh, where have you been? I have sixteen messages here for you and you missed you're ten o'clock at the OEOB."  
  
"Sorry," he shrugged. "I got held up."  
  
"In that unscheduled meeting you had?"  
  
Josh winced internally. He hated keeping things from her that would ultimately affect her but he couldn't let her know what was going on just yet.  
  
"Yeah," he said softly,  
  
"Well you could've told me. I would have bumped the OEOB. It would have been a damn bit easier than having to apologise profusely to Dee over your unexpected no-show."  
  
"Dee?" he asked as his eyebrow rose.  
  
"Yeah Dee Hooper. See it's all very simple, this is how it works. My boss misses her boss's meeting, so her boss yells at her to yell at me so I can yell at my boss, which is usually when my boss yells at me for allowing him to miss the meeting and I have to apologise over and over again to her and her boss for my boss."  
  
"Yeah, it is all very simple," he let a small sad smile cross his face. If only he could get rid of the nausea that suddenly seemed to have formed in his stomach.  
  
"And so is a short message to me, your assistant, to kindly say, 'Sorry Donna, but this unexpected, unscheduled mystery meeting is taking much longer than I thought it would. Would you be so kind as to bump everything on my schedule by half an hour? Thank you.'"  
  
"Yeah. Look, as I said, I'm sorry," his genuine apology made Donna feel a tad bit guilty.  
  
"Oh never mind. These things happen. We'll probably laugh about the whole thing over lunch."  
  
"We will?" Josh asked confused, thinking he couldn't recall arranging to have lunch with Donna today.  
  
"Me and Dee," she threw over her shoulder casually as she moved from her desk to the nearby filing cabinets.  
  
"What?"  
  
"We're having lunch today."  
  
"You've been having lunch outside of the office quite a bit lately," he said, internally admonishing himself for suddenly being suspicious.  
  
"So?"  
  
"Nothing."  
  
"It's what normal people do, Josh. It's called a 'lunch break'. It implies having a break away from work, breaking for lunch, hence the out of the office part. It gives me a chance to recharge my batteries and catch up with others."  
  
"Catch up with others?"  
  
"Yeah. Don't tell me you need me to explain that concept to you as well."  
  
"No. I am fully aware of the concept of catching up with others. So who are these others that you are catching up with?"  
  
"Excuse me?"  
  
"Who do you have lunch with?"  
  
"Why do you want to know?"  
  
"I'm just curious," he shrugged. God he was bad at this.  
  
"Are you fishing here or something?" she cautiously grinned.  
  
"What do you mean?" he asked.  
  
"Is this a bizarre 'Josh way' of asking me if I am seeing someone? Are you jealous?"  
  
"God NO! You've got it all wrong. I was just curious that's all." Josh realised this surreptitious way of asking Donna questions wasn't really going to clarify anything. He now knew it was wrong to try it this way. He'd have to ask her directly, something which he dreaded doing.  
  
"Oh, okay. Well then, let's see. I have lunch with all sorts of people. Dee's today of course, but it's usually Carol or Bonnie, Ginger, Kathy, Nancy a few times, Sam half a dozen-"  
  
"You have lunch with Sam?" There went the eyebrow again.  
  
"Yeah, on occasion."  
  
"When? What occasion?"  
  
"Usually when you're not around."  
  
"What do you mean when I'm not around?"  
  
"Geez, Josh, relax. There have been about half a dozen times when Sam has come looking for you, only to find that you are not here and we've ended up having lunch together. It's all very innocent."  
  
"Yeah, well, I know that."  
  
"Then there's Margaret and CJ of course, Ed and Larry - their always together-"  
  
"What?"  
  
"Nicole, Tina, Alec-"  
  
"Alec? The Secret Service Agent?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Alec the six foot four, one hundred ninety pounds, blonde hair, blue eyes, kill you as soon as look at you Secret Service guy?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"I thought the agents were not supposed to get involved with us," Josh said.  
  
"They're not supposed to get involved with their protectees. I'm not his protectee, Josh. Although what I wouldn't give to be in need of some of his protection..." she grinned dreamily.  
  
"Donna!"  
  
"Sorry I can't believe I said that out loud," she giggled.  
  
"God, is there anyone you don't have lunch with?" He was fully aware that she hadn't mentioned her lunch with Amanda Davis and it made Josh more than uneasy. Did she really have something to hide or was it a mere oversight?  
  
"I guess I'm popular."  
  
"I guess you are, " he concurred.  
  
"Oh and of course there's you. Occasionally we have lunch together, if that's what you want to call it, they're more like non-lunches, because it does involve eating but there isn't a pause in working or a break in any kind of way as it is usually a working lunch an eat-as-you-file-type-or-organise lunch."  
  
Josh didn't know what to say, he was guilty of making her work through lunch but then all of the assistants to the senior staffers had had to do the same more often than not.  
  
He sighed again which caused Donna to look at him. He knew he was doing a lousy job. So far his 'casual conversation' method of interrogation had gleaned little information other than the fact that she had lunch with Sam more often than Josh liked. Oh, and the fact that she hadn't mentioned Amanda Davis as one of her 'usual' lunch dates. But still without direct questioning he'd never really know if that was a mere oversight or not.  
  
He sighed again, suspicious even for him.  
  
"What?" she asked.  
  
"Nothing. Is... is that a new suit?" he asked deflecting the conversation.  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"And you have new shoes that you wore yesterday and a new bag. I must be paying you too much."  
  
"That'll be the day."  
  
Okay new clothing and accessories it could add up to a sudden increase in wealth. A windfall - or a pay off his mind supplied.  
  
Oh god. This was driving him crazy. He needed to ask her and he needed to ask her straight, if only to get this dirty business over and done with and not to prolong his fears and anxiety.  
  
"Look Donna, we really need to have a talk," he said.  
  
"Funny that's what I thought we were doing."  
  
"No. A serious talk."  
  
"Okay," she said, suddenly sobered by the tone in his voice.  
  
"I want you to clear a spot for this afternoon."  
  
"You want me to clear a spot?" she asked a little bewildered.  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"So we can talk?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Why?" she eyed him suspiciously.  
  
"So we don't get interrupted."  
  
"You don't want us to be interrupted?"  
  
"Donna, that's what I just said."  
  
"Am I up for review, because you could have given me some warning, Josh. I might have even brought you coffee."  
  
"No. It's not time for your review."  
  
"It's not time for a review, but you want me to clear a spot for this afternoon so we can 'talk'." She squinted at him.  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Well, why can't we talk right now?"  
  
"Because I have a meeting with CJ and when we do have a talk I don't want us to be interrupted."  
  
"Can you give me a clue as to what's this all about?" she asked hopefully.  
  
"Donna!" he yelled, and she knew from his tone that he wasn't going to give her a heads up in any way.  
  
"Okay, okay. I'll clear a spot. But I'll spend the better part of the day wondering just what's going on. Don't expect me to be too productive."  
  
"When do I ever?" he grinned.  
  
"You are a cruel man, Joshua Lyman," she quipped.  
  
But Josh couldn't answer her. Because he knew that's exactly what he will be feeling like in a few hours time. Cruel. To ask her the questions that he needed to ask her, there was no other word for what he was going to be other than cruel.  
  
Despite this all being bullshit. Utter, total Bullshit.  
  
end part 2  
  
Rhasa4@yahoo  
  
I'd love to hear from you. 


	3. Chapter 3

Title: True Lies Part 3 Author: Rhasa Rating: Pg-13 Category: Drama Disclaimer: Not now, never was, and never will be mine Author's Note: I take no responsibility whatsoever for the following as it is four o'clock in the morning as I write this. Enough with summer already!  
  
True Lies Part 3  
  
by Rhasa  
  
"Josh?" Donna's head appeared in the doorway to his office.  
  
"Yeah?" he looked up.  
  
"Your three o'clock is here."  
  
"Remind me once again. Who is my three o'clock?"  
  
"Me," she grinned.  
  
"Oh." Josh's stomach just fell to the floor. He had been dreading this moment all day. In fact he had been totally preoccupied in his office for the last twenty minutes trying to come up with a way of asking Donna the inevitable that he had forgotten he had scheduled a time with her to discuss it. He sighed heavily and grabbed his mug from the desk. "Okay, just give me a minute would you. I'll be right back."  
  
"Sure," she said as she took a seat and watched him walk out the door.  
  
He forced himself to focus on regulating his breathing. This should be easy, he told himself. A few simple questions. So how come it felt anything but?  
  
He poured himself a cup of coffee and almost as and afterthought poured a second one.  
  
Donna was more than a little surprised when he handed her the warm cup a few seconds later as he re entered his office and shut the door.  
  
"What is this?" she asked, holding the mug in her hand and staring at strangely.  
  
"Just coffee," he shrugged.  
  
"You brought me coffee?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Josh," she said cautiously.  
  
"What? It's just a cup of coffee."  
  
"Okay Josh, what's going on."  
  
"Nothing."  
  
"Joshua Lyman, in all the time we have worked together when have you brought me coffee?" she continued to eye him suspiciously and didn't allow him to answer . "Never. Never have you brought me coffee." "Well, that's not strictly true. I've brought you back a latte from Starbucks on several occasions."  
  
"Okay, that doesn't count."  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"Well for starters, that's only been when I've known before hand that you were going there and I have specifically requested you bring me a cup. You have never simply gone and poured me a cup at he office before. Ever. Never ever. So give. What's going on."  
  
He took a large sip from the mug and placed it on the corner of his desk next to the spot where he was now sitting.  
  
"Donna, there is something I need to talk to you about. It's sensitive, and to be honest I have been trying all day to figure out a way to bring this up."  
  
"Oh God."  
  
"What?"  
  
"You're resigning," she said matter-of-factly.  
  
"What?"  
  
"You're resigning as Deputy COS."  
  
"No."  
  
"No?" she asked surprised and relieved at the same time.  
  
"No. And why would you think that as your first choice?"  
  
"I don't know. You've been worried, secretive all day."  
  
"And there couldn't be another reason, other than my supposed impending resignation?"  
  
"Like what?"  
  
"Well like a number of things. Like... like me firing you," he regretted those words as soon as he said them.  
  
"No."  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"Well because I'm impervious. You can't fire me. And even if you could, you'd have Leo do it."  
  
"True," he nodded, taking a sip from his coffee as he began to relax - just a little  
  
"You're not firing me are you Josh?"  
  
"No. Your impervious, remember?"  
  
"Well then, you're not resigning and I'm not being fired. Are you going to tell me that you have some secret disease that you've been keeping from all us for the past six years?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Are you addicted to drugs, booze-"  
  
"No! Donna-"  
  
"Did you accidentally sleep with a prostitute?"  
  
"No. And how do you know about that-"  
  
"Are you gay?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"Are you gay?"  
  
"No!"  
  
"Not that I have anything whatsoever against gays, and I know that's the first thing everyone says when they hear that, but it's true. I could fix you up with some really cute guys. We could double date. Like on Will and Grace."  
  
"Donna! I'm not gay, okay?"  
  
"Okay."  
  
"And I'm not here to tell you about any of those other things either."  
  
"Okay."  
  
"In fact I'm not here to discuss anything about me whatsoever so-"  
  
Donna began to nod her head but then suddenly her eyes grew wide. "Oh my god."  
  
"What?"  
  
"This is about... you know."  
  
"No. What's 'you know'?"  
  
"You know," she said with more emphasis as if the tone of her voice alone would jog his memory as to what she was referring. "You know. The photocopy room."  
  
"The photocopy room?"  
  
"Yeah, look, Josh," she began suddenly extremely uncomfortable. "I know I should have told you about that. Really, I was going to tell you, but I just felt so confused and sick and... oh god you don't know how much I really wanted to talk to someone about it. But I was worried about my job and Sam's job and if word ever got outside this office about what happened, well there was sexual harassment laws to consider and-"  
  
"Okay, Donna? I have to stop you right there. All I'm hearing is 'Sam', 'photocopying room' and 'sexual harassment' and I'm doing my best not to freak out here."  
  
"I know... I know... I was freaked out too. God, Josh you don't know just how freaked out about it I was and not really about the actual kiss, well okay, I was totally freaked out about the actual kiss, but it just kind of took me completely off guard, and I didn't expect it and I certainly wasn't asking for it or sending out any signals or whatever they want to call it-"  
  
"Kiss?"  
  
"Yeah," she said her eyes beginning to fill with tears.  
  
"Sam kissed you?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"In the photocopy room."  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"You weren't expecting it."  
  
"No," she said. "As I said it took me completely by surprise, Sam too, I guess."  
  
"And you were worried about sexual harassment."  
  
"Well yeah. I didn't know what to do. I didn't welcome the kiss but I didn't want to get Sam in trouble. It was only that one time. And I told Sam that. It was a mistake. I didn't ask for it but I didn't want our careers ruined because of one small mistake. And Sam is my friend. We'd promised one another that we'd just forget about it. But I couldn't forget about it, because I was so worried that someone would find out and they would think... and I wanted so badly to talk to someone... but if they found out they would think that I..." Donna, obviously upset couldn't continue.  
  
"Donna, it wasn't your fault," Josh soothed as he came to crouch in front of her and placed a comforting arm on her shoulder. "Listen to me, it wasn't your fault. And if you needed to talk you could've just come to me. You can always come to me," he soothed.  
  
Josh inwardly groaned. He hadn't known about Sam and the kiss, and he didn't know if he was more upset about that or by the fact that his not knowing meant there could be plenty of other things he didn't know about. This conversation had thrown him for a loop. He certainly wasn't where he thought he would be. Trying to gather his thoughts, he remained silent at her side.  
  
"What are you going to do?" she asked a little fearfully.  
  
"What do you want me to do?" He asked genuinely.  
  
"Nothing. It won't happen again."  
  
"How can you be so sure? Maybe I should have a quiet word with Sam."  
  
"No. No don't do that. I don't want Sam to know that I've been talking to you. Besides, the transfer will be coming up soon."  
  
"Transfer?" Sam was transferring somewhere?  
  
"Yeah. End of the month. Then we won't see each other anymore which will make things easier. I won't have to worry-"  
  
"What transfer?"  
  
"Rotation, Josh," Donna stated as if it should have been obvious to him what she was talking about.  
  
"Okay help me out, here. Sam is transferring?"  
  
"Yeah, as part of rotation."  
  
Josh still looked utterly confused.  
  
"Rotation of interns," Donna said.  
  
"What has the rotation of interns got to do with the Deputy Chief Communications Director?"  
  
"Well nothing, What are you talking about?"  
  
"I'm just wondering why when the interns rotation comes up you won't be seeing Sam anymore."  
  
"Because of the fact that she will be rotated out of here."  
  
"She."  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"She?" his voice got higher.  
  
"What's wrong with you, Josh?"  
  
"SHE!"  
  
"Yes. She. Oh god," and the light suddenly dawned on Donna's little world. "You didn't think- Oh god, Josh you didn't know I was talking about Samantha Moore? You thought I was talking about Sam Seabourne? You didn't really know about any of this?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Oh god. JOSH!"  
  
"I gotta tell you Donna, when I thought that Sam SEABOURNE had taken advantage of you in the photocopy room, I was ready to go over there and punch his lights out, really I was, despite the fact that he is my best friend."  
  
"Well, there's no need. Because it was Samantha Moore who kissed me in the photocopy room."  
  
"Yeah and that just brings up a whole 'nother set of images in my mind," he muttered, but not low enough for Donna not to hear.  
  
"Josh," she complained.  
  
"I'm sorry. I really am."  
  
"Imagine if another guy came up to you and gave you a big unexpected lip lock."  
  
"No we totally don't want to go there. But I am sorry, Donna. I don't mean to make fun of what must have been and still is a very distressing situation for you. I will do anything you ask me to do in regards to this matter. Honestly. Really. This is me being totally professional and boss like in an extremely delicate situation."  
  
"Totally professional huh?"  
  
"Well yeah."  
  
"Right now you're wondering what it looked like, the two of us kissing, aren't you?"  
  
"There's really no way I can answer that question without inviting actual bodily harm," he said.  
  
"I thought so," she shook her head. "I don't want you to do anything, Josh. I'm glad I told you though."  
  
"So am I," he replied in a total non sexual way.  
  
"But if it wasn't about the kiss in the photocopy room that you wanted to talk to me about, then what was it?"  
  
Josh looked down at his feet. He couldn't bring himself to begin the discussion that he knew he had to have with her. He admitted to himself he was looking for any kind of excuse to postpone or cancel it altogether, and her alarming yet intriguing revelations of the past few minutes provided him with enough of an excuse to let it go for now. He was off his game. He needed to distance himself from her a bit in order to question her and he couldn't do that after he had just sat and comforted her after she had cried and poured her heart out.  
  
"Nothing, never mind. It can wait."  
  
"You sure?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"It's not about me charging underwear to your credit card is it?"  
  
"WHAT?" Josh roared.  
  
"Nothing. Never mind," she said as she practically ran out the door...  
  
Josh contemplated rising to the bait, but changed his mind and collapsed into his chair before her head appeared in the doorway again.  
  
"You would have really gone over there and punched his lights out?" she asked softly.  
  
"Well yeah, of course. Like I said, I'm a professional."  
  
She smiled a genuine smile at him.  
  
Suddenly his heart felt lighter. This was exactly the Donna he knew. The it-could-only-happen-to-you Donna and everything else they were saying about her was total utter bullshit.  
  
The end but tbc which means this is going to be longer than 3 parts.  
  
Rhasa4@yahoo.com 


	4. Chapter 4

Title: True Lies Part 4 of 4  
  
Author: Rhasa  
  
Rating: PG-13  
  
Category: J/D light drama.  
  
Disclaimer: Not mine. Aaron Sorkin's  
  
Summary: Josh can't put it off any longer.  
  
"Josh?" Donna sounded mildly surprised when she opened  
  
her door and found her boss on her doorstep at eleven  
  
thirty at night.  
  
"Hey Donna."  
  
"Hey. What brings you here?"  
  
"Oh nothing. Can I come in?"  
  
She eyed him suspiciously for a moment or two with her  
  
head on the side. "You're not drunk are you?"  
  
"No. No. I'm sober as a judge, well only if you don't  
  
count McKinnely in that little analogy," he smiled  
  
softly.  
  
Hearing the sound of the kettle boiling Donna turned  
  
back inside and heads towards the kitchen as Josh  
  
entered her apartment and began to take off his coat.  
  
"Is you flatmate around?" he asked.  
  
"I'm between flatmates right now."  
  
"Since when?" he sounded surprised.  
  
"Since about four months ago. I'm making tea, can I  
  
get you something?" She called as he turned and walked  
  
toward the sound of her voice  
  
"Whatever you're having will be fine," he answered as  
  
he appeared in the doorway of the kitchen and watched  
  
her. She moved about the kitchen quickly not pausing  
  
to look at him, which disturbed him. It felt almost as  
  
if she was hiding something. "I guess it's hard," he  
  
said.  
  
"Hard?"  
  
"Having no flatmate."  
  
"I get by," she shrugged.  
  
He wanted to clarify what he just said. He wanted to  
  
ask her how she manages to pay rent when she doesn't  
  
have a flatmate to share expenses. He wanted her to  
  
assure him that there is some other way she has found  
  
to make ends meet other than selling Barlett  
  
Administration secrets. He wanted to come straight out  
  
and ask her, but he can't - not yet.  
  
A sick feeling began to settle in his stomach. He  
  
turned away from the kitchen and moved throughout her  
  
living room, looking at the assorted contents as if  
  
they held the secrets of the universe. Her bookcase  
  
caught his eye and he moved over to it, running a hand  
  
across the spines of the assorted mish mash of titles.  
  
There are a few of the classics, Moby Dick, Catcher in  
  
the Rye, Lord of the Flies, The complete works of Mark  
  
Twain, Jane Austen, Shakespeare's MacBeth, as well as  
  
more contemporary works, all of Chuck Palahniuk's  
  
novels, some Tom Clancy's, a few on virology including  
  
The Coming Plague, Hot Zone, and Demon in the Freezer  
  
all mixed in with other assorted scifi works that  
  
include favourites from Douglas Adams, Tolkien's Lord  
  
of the Rings, Robert Jordan and Harry Turtledove. Josh  
  
grinned at the strangeness of her collection until his  
  
eyes fell on to a series of leather bound books that  
  
smelled as if they were brand new. Picking up one of  
  
the many volumes he notices that it has gold stamping  
  
on the cover, "Anne of Green Gables by  
  
L.M.Montgomery." He opened it and was reading when  
  
Donna entered carrying two mugs in her hands.  
  
"I didn't know you were an 'Anne-girl', fan, Josh."  
  
"I'm... I'm not," he stammered while hastily replacing  
  
the book. "I was just looking at these. They seem so  
  
out of place next to the others. Are they new?"  
  
"Yes. They're very expensive leather bound," she said  
  
matter-of-factly as she stepped closer and handed him  
  
his mug. "But they're worth it."  
  
"It's a story about an orphan, isn't it?" he asked  
  
awkwardly at the feeling in his stomach grew.  
  
"Yes. Anne Shirley. She survives the death of her  
  
parents and a terrible upbringng of foster family  
  
after foster family to find a true home with a  
  
bachelor and spinster brother and sister and true love  
  
with her childhood chum, Gilbert Blythe. It's a  
  
classic."  
  
"I haven't read it."  
  
"I doubt that many men would have. It's a really girly  
  
story, but beautiful and sweet in it's eternal  
  
optimism and innocence. Anne is quite the romantic."  
  
Josh wonders if Donna realises that she had just  
  
described exactly how he saw her, optimistic, innocent  
  
and above all a romantic. His stomach churns again and  
  
for the first time he can name the feelings as guilt  
  
and fear.  
  
"I don't think you came here to ask about my personal  
  
library, Josh."  
  
"No."  
  
"So what's up?"  
  
"What do you mean what's up? Couldn't I have just come  
  
over for no particular reason?"  
  
"Well, yeah you could have but seeing you never have  
  
before then forgive me for suspecting that that isn't  
  
why you're here."  
  
"You're right. That's not while I'm here."  
  
"Okay, sit down and spill."  
  
"Do you remember three days ago when we talked about  
  
Sam... Samantha and the kiss in the photocopier room-"  
  
"Who did you tell?" she butted in.  
  
"Excuse me?"  
  
"Well I knew after the fact that you wouldn't be able  
  
to resist telling someone about what I told you."  
  
"I-"  
  
"I mean you are a man afterall and men kind of get off  
  
on a thing like that."  
  
"Donna I-"  
  
"It's all right, Josh I forgive you. It was Sam... as  
  
in Sam Seabourne, wasn't it? I can just imagine you  
  
telling Sam. He would have sat there with his jaw wide  
  
open after it would have hit the floor. I bet he said  
  
something like "I wish I was a fly on the wall that  
  
day." This from a man who 'accidentally' slept with a  
  
*prostitute*!"  
  
"Donna, I didn't tell Sam... Sam Seabourne."  
  
"Oh God not Toby-"  
  
"No, Donna-"  
  
"CJ?"  
  
"Donna, stop. I didn't tell anyone. No one. I told no  
  
one. Just like I said, I was totally sensitive and  
  
professional about it."  
  
"Oh, okay."  
  
"But before we had that particular discussion, I said  
  
there was something else I wanted to discuss with you,  
  
do you remember that?"  
  
"Yes I remember."  
  
"I said that it was something sensitive."  
  
"I think you said personal."  
  
"What?"  
  
"I think you said you had something personal to  
  
discuss with me."  
  
"Well it is, I guess but it is also sensitive."  
  
"Okay."  
  
"Um...Ummm."  
  
"Josh?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"Whatever it is, I can handle it."  
  
"I'm not so sure."  
  
"Look I was surprised when Toby told me about the  
  
President and the MS. But I didn't flinch, Josh."  
  
He looked at her with sad eyes.  
  
"I didn't flinch, Josh," she said again.  
  
He nodded, glad for her eternal optimism and  
  
confidence. He didn't know why, but his palms were  
  
sweating and as he made an attempt to take a sip of  
  
tea, the mug slipped and sloshed liquid down the front  
  
of his shirt. Jumping up quickly he managed to spill  
  
half of the remaining liquid on his pants.  
  
"Josh! When I said sit down and spill, I didn't mean  
  
literally." Donna cried as she tore into the kitchen  
  
to get a cloth. "Did you scald yourself?"  
  
"No. I don't think so."  
  
She tried as best she could to clean up the mess, but  
  
gave up after a few moments.  
  
"You're going to have to take those off."  
  
"What?"  
  
"They're soaked, Josh. You're going to have to take  
  
those things off."  
  
"Why does this conversation suddenly remind me of the  
  
start of a bad porno flick?"  
  
"Is there any other kind?" she asked. "I mean it, take  
  
them off and I'll sponge them."  
  
"I'm not taking them off here, Donna."  
  
"I'm not suggesting that you do." She disappeared into  
  
her bedroom and retunred almost immediately with a  
  
pair of sweats that looked alarmingly familiar.  
  
"Here. You can change into these. Use my bedroom."  
  
"These are mine."  
  
"Yes."  
  
"But you have them."  
  
"I wore them when I was at your place, you know, after  
  
Rosslyn. I took them home and washed them and  
  
forgotten to return them."  
  
"Oh, okay," he said satisfied with her reply. "I'll  
  
just go and...." he trailed off as he headed to her  
  
room.  
  
After closing her bedroom door, Josh sighed heavily.  
  
He had been trying to have this conversation with her  
  
for days, but something always seemed to get in the  
  
way. He loosened and removed his tie, then unbuttoned  
  
his shirt, toed off his shoes and took off his pants.  
  
Turning to toss them tmporarily on Donna's bed, he  
  
noticed a red file on her nightstand, one that seemed  
  
oddly familiar. Picking it up he gasped as he realised  
  
that it was indeed the file that contained the  
  
information that Bruno had accused Donna of leaking to  
  
Blake's office. He thought that Leo had that  
  
information now. A million thoughts began to run  
  
through Josh's mind. He had been certain that what  
  
Bruno had told him were all lies, but now he was  
  
beginning to doubt the confidence he had in his  
  
assistant. What if everything Bruno had said had been  
  
true? Josh knew Donna couldn't afford the rent on her  
  
apartment on her own and yet she admitted that she  
  
hadn't had a flatmate for four months. Then there was  
  
the little matter of all the new purchases she had  
  
made recently that she definitely couldn't afford.  
  
What the hell was going on?  
  
Josh felt something boil inside of him. He had given  
  
her the benefit of the doubt for the last couple of  
  
days, but now... well he couldn't take it anymore.  
  
Without really thinking Josh flung open the door. He  
  
was a little surprised to come face to face with  
  
Donna.  
  
"Look, Donna. I gotta ask you... well... it's been  
  
days... I've been trying to ask you for days... and  
  
well...damn," he cursed himself for not being able to  
  
get the words out. He had wanted to do this so  
  
differently. "Donna-"  
  
"Josh, I'm flattered, really," she began her eyes  
  
flicking between him and the floor. "But we shouldn't  
  
be talking about this." If he didn't kow better he  
  
would have sworn that she was blushing.  
  
"What?" asked Josh, totally confused.  
  
"I mean if it was another place and another time then  
  
I'd definitely jump at the chance to go out with you.  
  
You're smart and funny and sweet and clever and you  
  
have a confidence about you that is at times  
  
infectious. But we can't. You're my boss and I'm your  
  
assistant, it just isn't right at the moment, no  
  
matter what we feel."  
  
Josh stood dumbstruck. He was trying to get his head  
  
around what it was she had just said to him. He stood  
  
with wide eyes before her, with his mouth hanging open  
  
slightly and literally shook his head. "What?'" he  
  
asked her again.  
  
"As I said another place another time, different  
  
circumstances, then yes. Definately yes. But now isn't  
  
a good time. I'm sorry, Josh."  
  
"WHAT? You think... I'm hitting on you?" He asked his  
  
voice an octave higher than usual.  
  
"I'll admit, the boxers are a nice touch," she said  
  
cheekily looking down.  
  
Josh followed her gaze. Of course. He was indeed  
  
standing there in his boxers, shirt and socks, totally  
  
oblivious to his state of dress or undress as the case  
  
was. He closed his eyes in a moment of embarrassment.  
  
What was it with this woman and the craziness that  
  
seemed to surround her.  
  
"Donna, I'm not hitting on you. I have to talk to you  
  
about something serious. I found this in your  
  
bedroom," he said as he stepped closer and handed her  
  
the red folder.  
  
Donna took the folder from his hand. Josh was watching  
  
her reaction carefully. She sighed and her shoulders  
  
visibly dropped. She pursed her lips and shook her  
  
head slightly, all of her jestures making Josh sick in  
  
the stomach again.  
  
"I know this looks bad, Josh," she said looking up at  
  
him, but he couldn't hold her gaze and it was his turn  
  
to drop his eyes to the fall. "But, I think if we  
  
rework the ethanol bill then we could strike a  
  
compromise with the environmentalists and the oil  
  
companies. I know we can do it, we just gotta give it  
  
a little more time."  
  
What was she talking about? "Donna, these are all the  
  
notes from last Monday. Everything that went on in  
  
that meeting. All platform drafts. All of my policy  
  
notes."  
  
"I know. I was the one who typed them."  
  
"The file is supposed to be kept at the White House."  
  
"It is."  
  
"Then what the hell is this?" he asked louder than he  
  
had expected.  
  
"It's my file."  
  
"Your file?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Okay, I'm going to take this real slow and ignore the  
  
fact that I am standing here having this discussion  
  
without any pants. Donna," he began with a well  
  
restrained polite somewhat patronising voice."Why do  
  
you have your own file?"  
  
"Josh," her voice mimicked his own. "I always have my  
  
own file."  
  
"Would you expand on that please?"  
  
"Josh, look I always have a copy of what we're working  
  
on. It helps when you ring me at all hours of the  
  
night asking for particular pieces of information or  
  
wanting me to remember whatever insane addendums that  
  
have suddenly come to you in your sleep. I reread  
  
everything and even make a few notes myself, see?" She  
  
points to some scrawl in the margin.  
  
Josh wanted to believe her. He could see some degree  
  
of sense in what she was telling him. It could all be  
  
very innocent, hell it probably was, but then there  
  
was the other evidence to consider.  
  
"Donna, someone leaked the information in this folder  
  
to Blake's office," he said bluntly, not at all proud  
  
of himself that he had finally achieved what he had  
  
been dreading for the past few days.  
  
"What?" she asked her eyes going wide.  
  
"Blake has this information."  
  
"How?" she asked, staring at him. "What, they think I  
  
leaked this?"  
  
"Yeah. They do."  
  
"Who? Who suspects me of doing something like that?"  
  
"It doesn't matter."  
  
"Who, Josh. I want names," she said through gritted  
  
teeth, her shock suddenly giving way to increasing  
  
anger.  
  
"Donna, I am not going to tell you the names. For  
  
crying out loud. This is serious."  
  
"I know."  
  
"No you don't know," he yelled. "There are other  
  
concerns."  
  
"Like what?"  
  
"There are concerns that this information wasn't just  
  
leaked, it was sold."  
  
"Sold? SOLD?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"They think I SOLD THIS INFORMATION?"  
  
"Donna, listen to me. Calm down. I have to ask you  
  
some questions."  
  
"Are you going to interrogate me?"  
  
"No, I am going to ask you some questions."  
  
"Did they send you here to break me, Josh? Did they  
  
think I would crack under the Lyman pressure?"  
  
"Okay, now you're just freaking me out. This is  
  
serious, Donna. If you were thinking logically right  
  
now you would understand the need for questions. So I  
  
am going to ask you some things and we can clear all  
  
this up, okay?"  
  
"Okay," she nodded.  
  
"What is your relationship with Amanda Davis? How well  
  
do you know her?"  
  
"Amanda Davis? Blake's secretary? We don't know one  
  
another that well."  
  
"Donna, you were seen having lunch with Amanda and  
  
handing her an envelope."  
  
"What, are you Perry Mason now?"  
  
"Donna!"  
  
"What, yes." she yelled at him, furious that she had  
  
to defend herself in this way. "Yes, I had lunch with  
  
Amanda Davis exactly one time. One time, Josh. Lunch.  
  
A perfectly innocent lunch. I had tuna fish sandwich  
  
and a diet coke and she had something on a bagel and a  
  
coffee."  
  
"Donna," he sighed warningly. "What about the  
  
envelope? Someone saw you passing an envelope to her."  
  
"Oh for crying out loud, Josh. Amanda is engaged to  
  
Allan Davenport."  
  
"He works on the hill," Josh added suddenly  
  
remembering who Allan Davenport is.  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"And so?" he prompted. "Donna?"  
  
"Well, as I said they're engaged. They are going to be  
  
married. Allan is leaving to work for Winton."  
  
"James Winton? From Wisconsin?"  
  
She nodded. "I'm pretty sure he thinks a challenge for  
  
the Presidency is part of his long term plans. I think  
  
they're bringing in Allan to prime him."  
  
"And what does this have to do with the envelope?"  
  
"Josh! Didn't you hear a word I said? Allan and Amanda  
  
are engaged and are moving to Wisconsin. I am from  
  
Wisconsin. Amanda wanted to know a little about what  
  
it is like to live there. She's anxious about leaving  
  
DC since this is as far north as she's ever gotten.  
  
She asked me to lunch to talk about my home state. I  
  
gave her a list of real estate agents and other things  
  
'you'd wanna know if you were to live in Wisconsin'."  
  
Josh slowly processed the information Donna was  
  
providing him. He could see that happening. A "hey I'm  
  
moving to Wisconsin, what's it like there" kind of  
  
conversation over lunch. It was perfectly  
  
understandable. Unless it was all a cover story. In  
  
fact it would be the perfect cover story. "Why were  
  
there so many calls from Blake's office to your line?"  
  
"We were trying to set up the lunch. You were working  
  
me hard on the ethanol thing, I had to cancel a few  
  
times. She had to cancel a few times. Honest, Josh  
  
that's all it was. It was perfectly innocent."  
  
"Okay. But there is a little matter of a large sum of  
  
money being deposited to your bank account."  
  
"What? How did you find out about that."  
  
"It doesn't matter. Is it true?"  
  
"Yes, it's true."  
  
"Well?"  
  
"Well what, Josh?"  
  
"Tell me about the money."  
  
"Do you really think that if I was smart enough to  
  
arrange to sell Bartlett secrets to the Republicans,  
  
to put my job and everything else on the line, that  
  
after the payoff I would simply stash the payoff money  
  
into my regular savings account for everyone to see?  
  
That money is Simone's."  
  
"Simone?"  
  
"Yeah, Josh. Simone. Simone, my flatmate, Simone? It's  
  
her settlement."  
  
"For what?"  
  
"Her butthead boyfriend, well not exactly her  
  
boyfriend and his friend got into a fight on New  
  
Year's Eve. During the fight her boyfriend's friend  
  
threw a punch at Simone's boyfirend but instead of  
  
hitting him made contact with Simone and broke her  
  
nose. Not only did she charge him with assault, but  
  
she sued for damages."  
  
"Oh yes well I can see how that fully explains why all  
  
that money wound up in your account."  
  
"Simone and her boyfriend broke up just before  
  
settlement. The jerk was pissed off that she had sued  
  
his buddy. She was awarded damages but couldn't put it  
  
into her bank account because it was a joint account  
  
with her boyfriend. She didn't want him getting his  
  
paws on it. She wanted to bank it right away so I  
  
offered for her to put it into my account. She had  
  
decided to go back home by this stage, but she was  
  
breaking a lease we had together so she offered me  
  
five months rent which would take her to the end of  
  
her lease so I wouldn't be out of pocket as well as  
  
some other money I leant her while she was in hospital  
  
having her nose put back into place. I just take te  
  
money out of my account and I've arranged to transfer  
  
the rest when she settles in back home. It's all very  
  
simple, Josh."  
  
"I can assure you, Donna. Nothing is very simple when  
  
it comes to you," he sighed.  
  
"Well that explains the secret luncheon meeting, the  
  
ominous envelope, the suspicious phonecalls, the money  
  
and the folder. Was that all, Josh? Or are there  
  
doctored photos of me giving Blake a lapdance at the  
  
Republican Convention?"  
  
"I'm afraid that mightn't be enough to get you off the  
  
hook."  
  
"What? I just explained everything to you, Josh! What  
  
more do they have?"  
  
"It's not what they have. It's what they haven't."  
  
"What are you talking about."  
  
"They don't have anyone else."  
  
"So they'd just assume it was still me because it is  
  
convenient? Josh, I didn't leak, sell, whatever...  
  
Blake's office did not get that information from me."  
  
"I believe you," he said.  
  
"You do?"  
  
"Of course."  
  
"But you weren't sure though, right?" she eyed him  
  
warily.  
  
"Well yes, I mean, no. I was sure. I was certain when  
  
I first heard anything about this that it wasn't you.  
  
But, I gotta tell you, Donna. As certain as I was of  
  
your loyalty and dedication to us, I was a little  
  
concerned when I saw that folder and heard that you  
  
hadn't had a flatmate in some while."  
  
"Yeah well, all that's about to change as I have to  
  
find someone else in the next month or I'll be out on  
  
the street," she pouted.  
  
"Look I don't want you to worry. We'll find out who it  
  
was or still is.But until then, I believe you, I trust  
  
you, but no more bringing files or folders home from  
  
work. Okay?" He grnned reassuringly at her.  
  
"Okay," she smiled softly, concern still edging her  
  
eyes.  
  
"Now as bad as all of this looked for you it is not  
  
nearly as bad as the Deputy Chief of Staff standing  
  
near naked before his assistant in her apartment. I'm  
  
going to go and get some clothes on. Are you okay?" he  
  
asked as he was turning back towards her bedroom.  
  
"Yeah. I'm okay."  
  
"Good. I'm sorry, Donna, about having to ask, about  
  
all of this."  
  
She stood looking at him, not offering anything in  
  
reply until he had completely turned around and was  
  
half way into her bedroom. "I'm sorry too, for  
  
thinking you were hitting on me."  
  
He stopped dead in his tracks. He had forgotten about  
  
that little misunderstanding from earlier. He could  
  
hear just how sad and lost she felt, this whole  
  
business was one ugly mess, and he wished things were  
  
different - he wished a lot of things were different.  
  
"If it was really another place and another time, you  
  
would definitely say'yes'?" he asked, thinking about  
  
the possibilities that she had opened.  
  
"Definitely, Josh, definitely." she said softly, which  
  
surprised him. He had thought she would have joked  
  
with him or taken her words back, but when he spun  
  
back to face her, her face was full of determination  
  
and honesty.  
The End  
  
Rhasa4@yahoo.com 


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